


Hold the Line

by AniSkywalker



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Anakin Skywalker Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 11:53:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13235184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AniSkywalker/pseuds/AniSkywalker
Summary: When it comes down to it, Anakin stays with the Jedi. How does this affect the fate of the Universe?A more nuanced rewrite of my first ever FanFiction. This is the first chapter.





	Hold the Line

Twenty minutes. It had been twenty minutes since Anakin confided in Mace Windu his suspicions about the Chancellor. But to Anakin, it may as well have been a lifetime. A deluge of thoughts crossed his mind, each conveying a unique message.  _ Betrayal. Pain. Death. _ He continued to pace the room, quickly overwhelmed by the raw power of his emotions.

 

On the conference table in front of him, a small fountain supplied a trickle of water that flowed into a small bowl. Any other time, it would have found itself utterly neglected. After all, Anakin much preferred the veracity of flight simulations and the intensity of sparring sessions to the tranquility of meditation. His entire life was built around conflict, to which peace is the antithesis.

 

But in this strange moment, the fountain was oddly attractive to him. Something about the endlessness of the cycle calmed Anakin’s racing mind. To call it an epiphany would be to do a disservice to its power, because to him it felt like the fountain offered him something missing from his life: calm.

 

Slowly, he sat down and put his head on the table, assuming a position most often adopted by younglings during a particularly boring lecture. Focusing on the fountain, Anakin began itemizing his thoughts.  _ Betrayal. By whom? Windu? _

 

Thinking more closely, he realized that Mace Windu did exactly what Anakin thought he would upon learning the Chancellor of the Galactic Republic was secretly a sith lord.  _ What did I expect to happen? That he’d go have a little chat with Palpatine? Maybe work out their differences? _

 

_ If Mace Windu didn’t betray me, who did? _

 

The deeper Anakin went, burying into his mind like Obi-Wan had always tried to teach him to do, he realized that so many of his emotions were centered on one man.

 

_ Palpatine. _

 

With the mere thought of the name, a tidal wave of emotion flooded Anakin’s mind to the point that it felt real, as if it were a blaster being fired into his gut. But as it faded, he thought again of the tranquility of the fountain, and found himself drawn closely to the Force. Listening to it, he suddenly had a vision of the Chancellor’s office.

 

* * *

 

Mace Windu thought his day couldn’t get worse. He woke up to find that not only was the ‘fresher in his quarters broken, but so was his alarm. He’d overslept and would be late to the council meeting on Outer Rim strategy. Not that he was particularly saddened by this; there would always be another strategy meeting.

 

Endless meetings were not why Mace had decided to become a Jedi, but he accepted them as a fundamental duty thereof. And today was no different.

 

Had someone told him a day prior that he would find himself, lightsaber extended, confronting a sith lord who had control of the Republic and was technically his superior, he would have laughed.

 

But this was real. And the stakes could not have been higher. After all, Mace had already seen Palpatine kill Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin. All three had been personal friends. And this monster had ended their lives, finished what he had no right to terminate.

 

Attachment was not the way of the Jedi. Mace knew this. But in his heart, a burning desire to avenge the loss of his friends took hold, against his rational mind. And right now, his emotions were winning.

 

Mace sensed a mixed presence outside the chambers, as if both light and dark simultaneously. He chanced a glance towards the door. Though only distracted for a moment, Palpatine exploited his temporary vulnerability by blasting him with Force lightning. Mace went flying back, hitting the wall particularly hard and crashing. The last thing he remembered was somebody rushing into the room.

 

* * *

Anakin’s vision was disturbing. He saw Mace Windu and three others engaged in a fight the likes of which Anakin had never seen. He felt slightly left out; lightsaber fights were, after all, his forté. Twirling, ducking, juking. Palpatine seemed to be at a disadvantage. And then they fell. One by one, Anakin watched helplessly as his comrades were struck down by a weapon he himself wielded. It felt surreal, but the Force reminded him it was very much real.

 

Anakin decided he could not stand idly by as the future of the galaxy was decided. Running towards the hangar bay, he saw a small ship being refuelled. Without thinking, he jumped in the cockpit and began piloting his way out of the hangar. The squeals of annoyed astromechs were drowned out by the reverberations in the Force. Anakin felt them strongly.

 

Arriving at the Senate building, Anakin strayed a thought towards his wife. She was probably home already, eating dinner. Perhaps she’s even listening to music. Smiling, Anakin recalled her obsession with classical music. She claimed it was beneficial for the kids.

_ The kids. _ Everything came rushing back to him; Anakin was a small boy lost in a forest of despair. A low voice whispered in his head,  _ Padmé will die in childbirth. And only Palpatine can save her. _

 

And yet, instead of despair or chaos, at the center of the forest there was a fountain. A small, trickle of water which recycled itself endlessly. And there was peace.

 

Anakin knew what had to be done. Sprinting towards the Chancellor’s chambers, he felt a pang in the force, accompanied by a sense of dread for what was to come. But he was determined.

 

Bursting through the doors, he was met with a horrible sight; a withered Palpatine, his eyes glowing a vile yellow, standing victorious over a defeated Windu. Turning towards Anakin, the sith lord uttered the words, “I can save the one you love,” with such confidence they almost rang true.

 

But through the smoke and mirrors, Anakin saw an old man, afraid of death, who had spent his whole life trying to become immortal. And that was how he would die.


End file.
